


Someone To Love

by TheoMiller



Series: Not A Rom Com [5]
Category: Fantastic Four (2015)
Genre: F/M, Jealousy, Love Triangles, Male-Female Friendship, Melodrama, Mutual Pining, Perceived Relationships, Reluctant friends, Whining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 04:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5361704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheoMiller/pseuds/TheoMiller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How could Sue possibly be so enamored with this insipid idiot? - The summer sun will set she said, if you leave it up there long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someone To Love

**Author's Note:**

> The fic happened, and then the video happened, and then. I don't know. Reed is a beautiful, precious child and Victor has Friends. He's HORRIFIED.

Victor's doing his absolute best not to stare at Sue. It's not going well.

"What happened?" says Richards.

Even Richards is noticing. Jesus.

"Less talk, more action, Richards."

"We won't even know what to work on until the diagnostic is complete," Richards says. "So. What happened?"

"Between me and Sue? Nothing."

There's a pause, and then Richards says, "I meant with the project. Dr. Storm said you started it. I was wondering why you hadn't finished it. I mean, you're clearly capable of it."

Victor glances sharply at him, but Richards' expression is guileless. "They wanted to use my prototype as a weapon. I objected."

"Oh," says Richards. "But why'd you leave?"

"I didn't leave. They kicked me out."

"Why would they do that?"

"Because I set fire to the server room."

There's a brief flicker of shock across Richards' usually baffled face. Then he says, "Do you think they still want to use it as a weapon?" he asks.

"Harvey certainly does," says Victor, darkly.

"I won't let him," says the boy. As if _he_ has a choice in the matter. "We're going to be a force for good in the world, Victor. I promise."

The blind moral naivety is exhausting. How could Sue possibly be so enamored with this insipid idiot?

Richards flinches like he's been struck. Victor realizes, too late, that he must've said that aloud. But what he says is, "I don't think Sue likes me all that much, actually."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's always frowning at me. I know you and her are friends, and she obviously loves Johnny, but—I don't think she likes me very much."

"Sue and I aren't friends," says Victor. "And she likes you. She wouldn't put up with as much of your crap if she didn't."

Richards is briefly, blessedly quiet. Then, "What happened?"

"I'm not the sharing and caring type, Richards. Go talk to your pal Johnny."

"I don't want to walk to Johnny, I want to talk to you," he says earnestly. "You and Sue seem really close sometimes, and then you look at each other like. I don't know. But something happened."

"Look. Richards. Your crush on Sue is really not any of my concern, although if you let it interfere with our work due to your unprofessionalism—"

"I don't have a crush on Sue," says Richards.

Victor snorts. Richards catches his arm, frowning. "Victor," he says, "I don't—I barely know Sue. And I don't really know you yet, but I really want to be your friend. And Sue's. And even if I were interested in Sue, which I'm not, because I barely know her, it wouldn't matter, because you guys clearly have some sort of thing I don't know about. And—look," Reed pauses, and he looks frustrated, and Victor's never liked him as much as he does right now that he's frowning at Victor like he's finally aware that Victor is an asshole.

"I have exactly one friend, or I did, before I met you guys, and I don't know much, but I do know that if you're interested in someone, and they're not interested in you, you back off. And Sue isn't interested in me. So I wouldn't—and if this is some, like, thing you do? Where you pursue people who don't like you? I don't want to be a part of that, either. So. What happened?"

He pulls back a bit, up to his full height, which isn't _much_ taller than Richards, but enough to give him a bit of height dominance. Richards blinks, but doesn't back down.

"What happened?" Reed repeats, eyes searching Victor's face.

Victor rolls his eyes. If it'll shut him up… "Sue wasn't supposed to be involved in the project. It wasn't even a project. It was an idea. It was my idea, and I'd been cultivating it since before you were born. Sue found a pattern. She didn't understand half of it, but she found the pattern I needed."

"Was she mad when you set fire to the server room?"

"I almost cost her father her job. And she stopped me from destroying everything. We were both furious."

"And you haven't seen her since?"

"The school's board had a meeting afterwards, to decide my fate. Sue was there."

"Oh."

"She and Franklin kept me out of prison."

Reed is frowning even more deeply. "And you think she doesn't like you?"

"Richards, are you even capable of comprehending the English language? I told you, I nearly cost her father his job."

"But you didn't."

"But I was willing for it to happen as a mean to my ends."

"But you didn't, and your intentions, I mean, you were—you were trying to prevent an amazing invention from being a weapon, and Sue clearly understands, or she wouldn't saved you."

Victor can feel a tension headache building just from Reed's ridiculous logic. "Sue's been saving me since she hated my guts. It's just what she does. It's what Franklin does. They take in strays."

"Am I a stray?"

He opens his mouth, about to say _obviously_ , and then pauses. "Sue was his first stray," he says instead, and ducks out from under Reed's hand before he can be roped into saying anything else to encourage this delusion that Reed has that they're friends.

"I don't under—"

"Get back to work, Reed," Victor bites out, over his shoulder, as he leaves.

He's go very little time to be relieved by the silence before it occurs to him. _When did I start calling him Reed?_

Oh, yes, thinks Victor. Reed is definitely a Storm family special.


End file.
